From the atlas
Bischöfliches Weingut
A Rheingau estate in Rüdesheim am Rhein working steep Berg vineyards and historic village slopes for Riesling and Pinot Noir, maturing its wines in a cellar that has been in continuous use since 1683.
At A Glance
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| Region | Rheingau, Germany |
| Village | Rüdesheim am Rhein |
| Main grapes | Riesling, Pinot Noir |
| Key vineyard sites | Berg Schlossberg, Berg Roseneck, Berg Rottland, Assmannshausen |
| Annual production | Around 50,000 bottles |
| Defining feature | Rheingau Pinot Noir from the 2018, 2019, and 2020 vintages ranked among Germany's most significant |
The Producer
Bischöfliches Weingut sits in the steep vine country above Rüdesheim am Rhein, where the Rhine bends and the Berg vineyard complex faces south toward the river. The estate produces Riesling and Pinot Noir from some of the Rheingau's most demanding sites: Berg Schlossberg, Berg Roseneck, and Berg Rottland within the Rüdesheim Berg complex, plus vineyards in Assmannshausen, Johannisberg, and Geisenheim. Peter Perabo has managed the cellar and estate since 2007. Harvest across all sites is done by hand, and the wines mature in vaulted stone cellars that date to 1683.
The estate occupies part of the last surviving wing of the Benedictine convent of Eibingen, founded in 1165. That connection gives the address its depth: wine has been made on or near this ground for most of the last eight centuries. What the estate produces today, around 50,000 bottles a year, comes from a tight focus on two varieties and a set of steep-slope and village sites that place it at the serious end of Rheingau production.
Place
Rüdesheim am Rhein stands at the western edge of the Rheingau, where the river narrows and the hills crowd close. The Berg vineyards rise steeply above the town, angled toward the south and reflected light from the water below. The combination of slope and river exposure gives Riesling the warmth to ripen fully on what are otherwise demanding, exposed sites. Assmannshausen, just to the west, has a long history of Pinot Noir from its own red slate soils, and Bischöfliches Weingut holds parcels there as well as across the gentler vineyard ground in Johannisberg and Geisenheim to the east.
Soil And Site
The Berg vineyards are built on quartzite and slate, soils that drain quickly and hold heat through the long Rheingau growing season. Berg Schlossberg, Berg Roseneck, and Berg Rottland each sit at different elevations and orientations within the broader Berg complex. The slopes are steep enough to require manual work throughout the year. Assmannshausen sits on red slate, a soil composition associated with the Pinot Noir grown there. The historic cellars beneath the estate, carved from stone and vaulted, provide stable temperatures for ageing: the same conditions that have matured wines here since the seventeenth century.
Story
The convent of Eibingen was founded in 1165, and the wing the estate now occupies is the last surviving part of that original building. Wine production continued through the long institutional history of the site. The cellar built in 1683 remains the estate's active maturation space today, an unbroken chain of use across more than three centuries.
Peter Perabo took over as cellarmaster and estate manager in 2007, bringing a new generation of technical attention to the range. Under Perabo, the estate invested in its Berg Pinot Noir work across the following decade. The results showed clearly in the 2018, 2019, and 2020 vintages, which drew comparison with the most serious Pinot producers in Germany. What had been a respected but lower-profile Rheingau name gained sharper critical standing because of those three consecutive releases.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate farms just over a handful of named sites across the Rheingau, with harvest done entirely by hand across the Berg slopes, Assmannshausen, Johannisberg, and Geisenheim. Manual picking on steep ground allows parcel-by-parcel selection and timing, particularly important on the Berg, where different exposures within Schlossberg, Roseneck, and Rottland can reach ripeness at different points in the season.
After harvest, the wines move into the vaulted stone cellars dating to 1683. The estate works with minimal mechanical intervention, relying on the cellar's natural conditions and careful timing rather than technical shortcuts. The range produces around 50,000 bottles annually.
Wines
Bischöfliches Weingut divides its range between Riesling and Pinot Noir. The Riesling comes from multiple sites across the Rheingau, including the steep Berg vineyards above Rüdesheim, where altitude and slate soils push the variety toward firm acidity and mineral character. The Pinot Noir work is centred on Assmannshausen and the Berg complex. Assmannshausen Pinot Noir is the estate's flagship red, drawing on a site with a long Rheingau reputation for the variety. The Berg Pinot Noirs from Schlossberg, Roseneck, and Rottland bring the steep south-facing character of those sites to the red range: concentrated, aromatically specific wines where the warmth captured on the slope is visible in the fruit.
The two-variety focus keeps the range legible. Riesling covers the breadth of Rheingau site expression. Pinot Noir shows what Assmannshausen and the Berg can deliver in red wine terms.
In The Glass
The Pinot Noirs carry a specific aromatic character rooted in the Berg sites and Assmannshausen's slate. The nose shows red and black berries alongside herbal notes, with smoky and nutty elements, a suggestion of pepper and juniper, and a hint of cherry beneath the darker fruit. The wines are dry, with the tannin and mid-palate concentration that comes from hand-harvested steep-slope fruit and maturation in the estate's old stone cellars. The finish holds the herbal and spiced character through the close.
The 2018, 2019, and 2020 vintages were noted as exceptional, with a concentration and site clarity that pushed the estate's Pinot Noirs into the company of Germany's most serious examples of the variety.
A Bottle To Understand It
Assmannshausen Pinot Noir is the bottle to choose first. Assmannshausen is the Rheingau's established address for Pinot Noir, a village with red slate soils and a growing history for the variety that is distinct from the Riesling-led reputation of sites further east. The estate's version shows the characteristic aromatic profile of the range: red and black berry fruit, herbal and smoky notes, pepper and a firm dry finish. It is the wine where the estate's Pinot Noir work is most directly connected to Assmannshausen as an address, before the Berg bottlings narrow the conversation to individual slope parcels.
Anecdote
The cellar at Bischöfliches Weingut was built in 1683, cut from stone beneath the last surviving wing of a convent that had stood since 1165. At some point after its construction, it became one of the Rheingau's working wine cellars. It has not stopped since. Peter Perabo, who took over as cellarmaster in 2007, matures the estate's Riesling and Pinot Noir in the same vaulted rooms that have been in continuous use for more than three centuries. The walls and the vault have not changed. The wines resting in them are from harvests taken this decade.
Final Word
Bischöfliches Weingut produces Rheingau Riesling and Pinot Noir from Berg steep slopes, Assmannshausen slate, and a stone cellar in use since 1683. The Pinot Noirs from 2018, 2019, and 2020 placed the estate among the serious addresses for the variety in Germany.
Sources
- https://www.bischoefliches-weingut.de/
- https://wineguide.wein.plus/bischoefliches-weingut-gmbh
- https://magazine.wein.plus/episcopal-winery-discovery-of-the-year-2024-2025-rheingau
- https://www.rheinweinwelt.de/en/winemakers/wine-estate-bischoefliches-weingut.html
- https://wineguide.wein.plus/bischoefliches-weingut-gmbh/wines